ReGenesis s04e08 Episode Script
Brood 14
We need to replace Weston Field.
I need to examine a real heart.
- It's been embalmed.
- So? I can't do anything with this.
I don't understand why you do his job.
I don't wanna do his job.
I just don't want anybody else to screw it up.
So you did.
What do you want? Wes' job.
Say again.
I remembered her name.
Yeah? I kept drawing, right, Nina, the lab, everything.
But it was all fragments.
But I couldn't piece them together.
I couldn't go anywhere.
And I decided to focus on sound.
Nina is the key to unlocking the memories.
Nina will know.
She will remember.
So we just have to find her.
Nina? Hello? Nina! I didn't think you were real.
Of course I am.
I thought you changed your mind.
No, it just took me a while to find it.
ReGenesis Team NorBAC Bbsiocnarf, Dapitch666, Enelea Golgi, Linwelin, Michvanilly Transcript Version NoTag 1.
0 So, how'd the book signing go? It was, you know Good turn out? Wall to wall.
I promise to make the next one, you just let me know.
Sure.
- Good morning, David.
- Do you have an appointment? I'd like you to meet Colonel Wade Carson of the U.
S.
Strategic Air Command.
Dr.
Sandstrà m, pleasure to meet you.
Colonel.
I'm sure this visit doesn't have anything to do with pleasure.
Actually it's an issue of National Security.
When isn't it, with you guys? Who's yanking your chain this time? Not so much "who" as "what".
We've recently had reports of suspicious activity near Arnold Air Force Base, in Tennessee.
Activity? Crow attacks.
What'll those crazy terrorists think up next, eh? You're serious? Deadly.
I never wanted to come back here but I had to.
If my father died before I had a chance to make things right I couldn't forgive myself.
I'm glad you're here.
So am I.
I should've known something was wrong.
I wanted to call you or come looking for you It's okay.
And I thought maybe you didn't want to see me again.
I've been trying so hard to remember.
And all this time, you were always with me.
I missed you so much.
Bob, everything's fine.
What is it? The work we did at Mr.
Roth's lab, on the stem cells.
What happened? Look at me.
You really don't remember.
Olivier Roth told David that we failed.
We abandoned the project.
You know Mr.
Roth.
That's just his way of protecting himself, keeping it secret.
And I can prove it.
Because I can feel that you're scared and you don't know why.
Your Jacobson's organ is working? I'm completely aware of people's emotions, even total strangers, without having to think about it.
It's so wonderful to be able to understand someone so So completely.
That's what we wanted.
And we are at the beginning.
And to be the first one to have a part of you inside of me.
You made me a better person.
I'm not so sure.
What is it? What is scaring you so much? - I don't know.
I can't - It's okay.
It's okay We'll get there.
Together.
I'm sorry, but I have better things to do than relive a bad Hitchcock movie.
Except this isn't fiction, Doctor Sandstrà m.
- No, it's paranoia.
- There's a boy in the hospital who would argue that, if he wasn't on a respirator.
Have you ever heard of the Air Force's BAM Project? No.
It stands for Bird Avoidance Model.
We're constantly monitoring migrations, putting out daily bird mass projections for the entire US airspace.
So a couple of angry crows don't fit with your model - and you hit the panic button? - Try hundreds and hundreds, David.
These attacks occurred in the vicinity of Carlisle, - near Arnold Air Force Base.
- The best ornithologists in the country have tried to figure this out.
Nobody can come up with an explanation.
A bunch of crows are effectively grounding a squadron of B1-B bombers.
We need to know why and who's behind it.
And you think these birds are working for Al-Qaeda? It would be extremely risky scrambling those planes, should the need arise.
Great.
Alright, perhaps you can tell us Have you heard of a swarm of crows becoming this aggressive, so suddenly? We have a jet standing by to take you to Tennessee.
What? Just a second.
Give me a minute.
Hello, David.
Who is this? It's Bob.
No, I'm sorry, Bob doesn't work here anymore.
I'm sorry I've been a little absent lately.
- Where are you? - In Michigan.
Well that narrows it down.
What are you lost? You trapped under a refrigerator, what? David.
I found her.
I found Nina.
No shit.
Yes.
And believe me, - she's very real.
- Promise me you're safe.
I am.
I can't wait for you to meet her.
- You'll love her.
- Okay, when are you back? I gotta go, but I'll call you soon.
Bob? Ah, shit.
- Carlos.
- Yeah? Pack a bag, we're going bird watching.
You could see them way off, gathering together.
Then it was like they all just decided to come into town.
I must've taken down a hundred in less than five minutes.
Since yesterday people are afraid to go out of their house to get the mail.
Sounds like some of the locals are doing their part.
And the Air Force? We've bagged about 520 crows so far.
Any confirmed kills yourself, Colonel? Not in this country.
Any thoughts? Well, crows are very susceptible to West Nile.
It could be a variant.
It can be environmental.
Or dozens of other things we don't even know about yet.
Have you noticed any pattern to the attacks? The seven wounded, were they in the same area? Doing similar activities? Maybe something threatening to the crows? No pattern I'm aware of.
He's off the respirator now, but he's still a little groggy.
What are his injuries? He lost his right eye.
Dozens of defensive wounds to his arms and hands, left jugular is punctured.
Excuse me.
Hey, Vince.
My name's David.
I'm a scientist, looking into these bird attacks.
Think you can help us out? Okay.
What you were doing when the birds came after you? I was over by Roger's field.
Flying my plane.
Remote control.
Were there a lot of birds around before you started flying your airplane? I dunno.
I just heard all this noise.
Turned around.
They were all on me.
The birds, did they attack your plane? No.
Just me.
I could understand if they confused the remote control plane with a raptor, or an owl But it sounds like they just zeroed in on the kid.
Thank you very much.
The US Biological Breeding Bird survey report no jump in the crow population, and that normal food sources are abundant.
- So where does that leave us? - Localized problem.
Any landfills in the area? A couple.
But they've been here for years.
What about the Air Force Base? Do you have any flow of hazardous waste - or heavy metals? - We've got a sludge lagoon and all drainage diverts around any landfill sites.
EPA's given us a clean bill of health.
You want to point fingers, how about those cell phone transmission towers? There's no evidence of radio waves affecting birds.
Not to the extent seen here.
Jesus.
Okay, we need to get some dead crows, slice-and-dice, see what we find out.
- That's it? - That's it.
And here's the asparagus.
You have a lovely home, Mr.
Corba.
Frank.
Oh.
Thank you very much.
What're you thanking me for? For allowing me to address you as "Frank", - as a sign of - That's my name.
- I'm very sorry.
- Don't worry about it.
You're a doctor? You operate with those hands? No, Frank, I'm a biochemist.
I study chemical processes and transformations, - within living organisms - I know what a biochemist is.
I'm not a high school dropout.
Dad, please.
What do you mean? You think I'm an idiot? Can we just eat? It's okay.
I should go.
Bob, please Sorry.
- I want to support you, but Frank - Deserves the same considerations for his feelings, I know, you're right.
The hell is wrong with you two? You even hear yourself talk? You're like some kind of lobotomized head-cases.
- I don't know what you did to her - I'm sorry that you're frustrated.
- But, I honestly - Would you stop for God's sake? Nina Sorry.
Just give me a minute.
Holy fuck.
Attention passengers, please fasten your seatbelts and remain seated.
You alright? Yeah.
- I got a call from Riddlemeyer.
- What does he want? He's not so hot about me stepping into Wes' shoes.
What's he going to do? Fire you? I'll rehire you.
I need you to get me the names of the best avian behaviorists we can talk to.
- Where we at with the crows? - So far some number eight shot and partially digested something.
What? Garbage? Road kill? Human eyeballs? - I don't know, haven't done a DNA test.
- Quick as you can.
Formaldehyde? - Oh, David.
- Hey.
So of all the different bacteria, parasites and viruses, both RNA and DNA, - known to affect crows - We've got 'em all? No, as a matter of fact, it's more like "nothing special".
- What about Mad Crow Disease? - Don't think I didn't go there.
But all the brain tissue samples looked normal, so What? Yeah, we got it.
Where is this? Almond, North Carolina.
The attacks started just outside of town this afternoon.
- Any wounded? - Several.
Two attacks, different states.
What's going on? I don't know any obvious connections between Carlisle, Tennessee and Almond, North Carolina.
But I do see something obvious that's not in common: military installations.
You're forgetting Pope Air Force Base, near Fayetteville.
That's 523 km from the attack site.
That's a long way from Almond, Carl.
You may also wanna know that the CIA has intercepted some chatter from Iraq.
According to the translators, these attacks may be a diversionary tactic.
Well it ain't working on me.
Second attack, North Carolina.
- Not a clue as to a connection.
- Might have something to do with moles.
The ones underground or on the skin? Mammalia.
The stomach contents of the crows was for the most part normal: insects, corn, worms.
But we also found the remains of moles in all of them.
So? Moles don't surface during the day.
And crows don't feed at night.
But there's something else.
The moles smelled funny.
It came from inside the stomach of a dead crow.
They smelled of formaldehyde so I did a chemical analysis and confirmed it.
All the moles have been contaminated with low levels of formaldehyde.
Okay, in human beings this would cause what? Blindness, organ damage, possibly respiratory problems.
There's no industry in Carlisle that would be using formaldehyde resin.
You know, maybe we're missing the link here because we can't see it.
All this time, we've been distracted by looking up at crows.
Maybe we need to look down.
You found formaldehyde in the soil? Yeah, it seems to be coming from the cemetery.
Ten acres permeated with formaldehyde.
That's a lot of leaking corpses.
It could be what's causing the moles to surface.
I would.
It's a good hypothesis.
When we first got here, we saw quite a few moles above ground.
Some kind of population explosion.
Send some back for analysis.
There might be some kind of connection between the moles and the birds.
I'm about to have Rachel carve up some North Carolina crow.
If we find they've been eating moles, I'd say that qualifies as a connection.
Alright.
Heads up! Gentlemen! Gentlemen, take cover.
There, come on.
I was wondering where you went to.
Why are you packed? I have to leave, Nina.
Because of my father? I'm scared, Nina.
And I'm not sure of what.
But I do know where I have to go.
Back to Roth's lab.
You know I can't leave my father.
David will come with me.
He's used to mind my panic attacks.
He's good that way.
You don't know what you'll find, do you? That's what scares me.
Nina, I'll be back soon.
Bob, please.
Before you go I know I wasn't much of a father Yes you were.
I love you, Daddy.
I love you too, honey.
So does that young man you're letting drive off Bob! Bob! - What do you got? - DNA confirms that no moles in the digestive tracts of the crows from North Carolina.
None? No, sorry.
So much for the mole theory.
- What's this spike here? - It's a toxicology report.
Everything's normal except slight traces of copper.
In both the Carolina and the Tennessee birds?{ Copper poisoning is associated with dementia.
Wait a minute.
We found slight traces of copper in the moles as well.
I mean, barely detectable, and probably harmless, but If it's not the moles It's what they're eating they have in common with the crows.
- What do they eat? - Mostly insects.
So soil samples that Carlos sent from Tennessee, - mainly grubs and earthworms.
- Test everything.
Insects, soil.
Carlos said there was a mole population explosion.
So that could mean that their food source You guys gotta see this.
Okay, so attacks have been confirmed in Kentucky, North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, and in Maryland, where a C5 Lockheed Galaxy went down, that's a huge military transport.
- Any casualties? - Pilot and co-pilot.
Just after takeoff the pilot reported multiple strikes and engine failure.
I'm gonna need to see the data on the Tennessee insect and soil samples.
Have them measure the copper levels as well.
Mayko, can you pull up that database again? This time, run a sequence in order of attack locations, from first to last.
- You see that? - Yeah.
Whatever's triggering these crow attacks is moving northwards.
It seems to be localized in the Eastern half of the US.
Lay in all the airports.
Including the military ones.
See, the civilian airports are on the outskirts of cities.
Military airports are in the country where the crows are.
That's why they thought they were under attack.
Just some good old-fashioned military paranoia.
It's funny.
In the past 28 hours I feeled liked we've gone from reunion to retirement.
Must be the recreational vehicle.
You're happy, aren't you? Very much.
I really liked waking up beside you.
And everything else.
Bob! Sorry, I've embarrassed both of us.
Trust me, you've got nothing to be embarrassed about.
That's good.
Seems to me like you could use a little relaxing now.
You've been clenching that fist for the last hour.
Yes, I see.
Are you tense? No.
But I remembered why I needed to find you.
What're you doing? Uh, be right there.
Nina, I know I've only loved you only for a short time, and well, I It was difficult for me to say because I remember practicing but I don't remember the words for it.
I just really want to be clear in this moment and I know I should stop focusing on the presentation What is it? I owe you an apology.
I don't know where I lost the real one.
When Richard Drew made this tape in 1925 it wasn't very sticky and some people thought it was cheap and made by frugal Scotsmen so it got its name "Scotch" tape.
But now it's stickier.
More adhesive.
To make sure that things stick together for a long long time.
I love you, Bob.
Nina, what I really want is that I was just wondering Will you marry me, Nina, please? Yes! It's perfect.
Hey, normal levels of copper in the soil, tested around the area with the moles, down to eight feet below ground.
Here.
I'm hearing a lot of what we don't have.
Well, what we do have, by the thousands, are maggots, beetle larvae and cicada nymphs.
- Your basic mole diet.
- All of which tested normal.
Yeah, but check this out.
These are periodical cicadas, the kind that gestate underground for 17 years.
Now, almost every year, somewhere in North America, a group of cicadas, they call them "broods", emerges.
But the cicadas that you had analyzed, where were they in their life cycle? Almost a couple of months old, which classifies them as part of "Brood 14".
Okay, not too long ago in Tennessee, cicadas emerged.
Yeah, so, after 17 years underground, feeding on grass and tree roots, the now adult cicadas crawled up to the surface, dried out their wings and did their thing for a couple of weeks.
- "Did their thing"? - Yes, "did their thing".
The males screech out some love songs, attract a mate, copulate and then they pretty much die right after.
Now the females only die after laying their eggs.
- Eggs hatch, out come the nymphs.
- Nymphs burrow into the ground, - the whole cycle starts again.
- But if the cicadas tested normal.
I know, but look at this.
Look at the range of this year's emergence.
Okay, in the blue, 13 states.
the same ones reporting crow attacks.
Okay Except the attacks are moving northwards.
Got a cicada emergence in Georgia, but they have no problems with crows.
- So that pokes a few holes.
- Alright, but apart from the cicadas, what do the other states have in common that Georgia doesn't? Well, they feed on grass and tree roots.
Could be regional vegetation differences.
If we get attacks in Indiana and Ohio, I think it's a good indication there's something to these hatchings.
Still doesn't make any fucking sense.
You said the nymphs tested normal? Yeah.
Bring Riddlemeyer up to speed.
Let him know there's a chance that this year's "Cicada States" might have a few crow issues in the near future.
When he asks "why"? Tell him it's a sign of the Apocalypse.
Hey! Move this piece of shit out of here! What the hell you think this is, a trailer park? Hello, Bob.
Hello, David.
Welcome back.
I guess I should say something profound David, I know this is a lot of information all at once, and I'm sorry to surprise you like this.
No, It's Nina.
May you share everything with Bob.
That's nice, David.
Including the housework.
He tends to mask affection with sarcasm, but he means well.
So, Nina.
The lab.
Olivier Roth.
Help me out.
Subtle, David.
What? For Christ's sake, Bob, I've been going through this brain fart with you for two months now.
Bob trusts you.
I know that.
But he's still scared.
- There's some pieces missing - What do you mean, "missing"? Pre-trials all went well.
Pre-trials on what? Primates.
Injected with my stem cells.
But we didn't wait long enough, we moved on too early.
Bob, look at me.
I am living proof that you made the right decisions.
What, wait a minute! Are you telling me that you've had this procedure done? And it worked.
I have a heightened sense of empathy.
That's just fucking great! Shoot first and ask questions later, is that it? - Someone had to be the first volunteer.
- No, they didn't! No, they didn't - I have to ask you a favor, David.
- I'm not giving you away.
I need you to go back to Roth's lab with me.
Did he contact you? No.
But I have to see for myself.
To know that everything's alright.
Roth says the experiment failed.
Nina says the opposite, and she is the opposite of failure.
Conflicting information tells me that I am scared for a good reason.
- Bob? - Hey.
Five new crow attacks: Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania.
All recent cicada hatching states, David.
- Any of them near airports? - One, in Pennsylvania.
Not military.
But a Cessna did crash on landing.
Multiple bird strikes.
No fatalities.
Good, contact the FAA, have them warn all the airports in the affected states.
Still nothing in Georgia? No, and no other attack reports except in states that That had this year's cicada hatching.
I get it.
The question is why? And why just crows? - I have no idea.
- Neither do I.
It'd be nice to have a fresh set of eyes on this.
Bob! Sorry, David, we just met the new lab tech: Bilal.
Seems nice, a bit quiet.
- This is - Nina? Bob, there's been some more crashes, okay? Mayko, this is the soon-to-be Mrs.
Bob.
I like that, "Mrs" I understand the point, David.
Is there a correlation between the location of the crow attacks, this year's cicada emergence, and indigenous vegetation.
The cicada nymphs burrow underground, and they feed on the tree roots.
They suck on them, actually.
Right Well, look, see? From birch trees, to oak trees and almost everything in between, - eastern US has it all.
- But not junipers, or redwoods, or Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina, Ohio.
These states, they all have three things in common.
They've got crow attacks, they've got a recent cicada hatching, and they've got over a dozen different species of trees.
So how do we narrow it down? Assuming, of course, there is a correlation between - this year's emergence and - Humor me.
Difficult to do.
There're so many vegetative combinations and permutations to consider.
Okay, so aside from the cicadas, you said there were other insects found in the Tennessee soil samples.
Yeah.
Look at this.
Scolytus multistriatus.
- English.
- Elm bark beetle.
- Special because? - They eat elm trees.
- Look at the range.
- Okay, elm trees.
I was looking at maps of almost every kind of tree.
Here you go.
Well that's interesting.
But you said there haven't been any crow attacks in Georgia.
But in comparison to all these other hatching states, Georgia barely has any elm trees at all.
I think you're on to something, Bob.
Good.
It's amazing to put faces to names.
- Bob talks about you guys all the time.
- Good things I hope.
So, how did you meet? We worked together.
I should probably let Bob give you the details.
Are you a doctor? Is that how you two? I was in the middle of my doctorate.
Neurology.
Specializing in regenerative therapy.
- Stem cells.
- That's right.
Mayko! Where the fuck are you? Welcome to the family.
Just a little dysfunctional.
Right.
I'm right here.
Ah, there you are.
Quick as you can.
You want elm tree root samples for Tennessee, Ohio and Georgia? Contact the USDA.
And pull any info you can on the rest of the list.
Wait wait wait.
Don't you mean this year's? No, this year's have already emerged.
And since we need to test the nymphs underground at the end of their cycle, we'd have to wait another 17 years to test this year's brood.
I don't know how soon I can get all this to you.
You should be done by now.
Each of this year's cicada states have elm trees in common.
Why is that relevant? Well, along with the cicada nymphs, we found elm bark beetles within the Tennessee soil samples.
Insects notorious for transmitting Ophiostoma ulmi.
- Dutch Elm disease.
- The disease hit in 1928, in Ohio.
It spread halfway across the US in four decades.
Block after block of beautiful suburban streets withered and died.
Property values plummeted.
Panic set it.
And then in 1939, they sprayed everything with DDT.
By the mid-50s the WHO suspected it caused cancer, but they didn't ban it until 72.
Meanwhile Dutch Elm disease kept spreading.
So guess what they did next.
Three decades of chemical cocktails, sprayed and spiked directly into the Elm trees.
Look, dioxins, all sorts of shit including copper sulfate.
And the trees soaked it all up.
So below ground, cicadas are feeding on the roots? But David, we tested them.
Toxicity was normal.
Normal for an insect 8 weeks into a 17-year life cycle.
The 2011 brood have been sucking on toxic tree roots for 10 years now.
And guess what? Higher accumulation of copper.
In fact the cicadas are eating xylem sap, which is where the copper circulates, so they'd have good long-term exposure.
You'd think that would just kill the cicada nymphs, no? - They must adapt over time.
- No.
Cicadas have proteobacterial symbionts that probably help them achieve a copper tolerance.
So the bacteria in their guts "sop up" the copper.
Exactly.
So the cicadas increasingly became laden with copper sulfate.
This latest hatching was basically a chemical bomb 70 years in the making.
So summer arrives, warm weather moves north - As the attacks do.
- Soil temperature rises 62 degrees, triggering the adult cicadas to crawl up from under.
And boom! Cicadas explode into the food chain.
The crows move in, they stake their territories and basically gorge for weeks on toxic cicadas.
And the copper streams into the blood, diffuses to their brains Affecting proteins specific only to crows.
Essentially what we're looking at here is avian schizophrenia.
- Except, what about Georgia? - Elms are few and far between there.
They got their share of toxic treatments, but nowhere near the levels of other current cicada hatching states.
Intelligence reports suggest otherwise.
Come on, Colonel.
Crow attacks as a diversionary tactic? You know what? They're right, because look at you, you're diverted.
You're sitting here in my office worried about birds.
Look, I think this chatter that the CIA intercepted was merely observational.
Try to relax until the summer of 2011.
What happens then? The next cicada hatching in 16 different states all of which have been sprayed for Dutch Elm disease.
- How many hatchings are there? - Enough to keep the military "diverted" for the rest of your career, I imagine.
We'll run out of crows to shoot by then.
That's assuming that future hatchings will only affect crows.
Who knows what you'll be shooting at Is this helping at all? It was our last day, we were closing up, the animals were getting picked up.
I had to secure the lab.
Alright, let's see if anybody's home, Bob.
I can't remember the access code.
After you, Bob.
It's okay, baby.
It's okay.
We had finished our work Roth had left.
The lab was being dismantled.
I told him to stop.
I don't understand.
We made a mistake, we can't keep going.
- I told him - Stop what, Bob? What was he doing? - The trials.
We made a mistake.
- No, Bob, the trials were good.
But it was too soon.
Too soon for what, Bob? What are you afraid of? Bob, we came here to end this, not run away from it again.
- I don't want to be here and do this.
- It's okay.
- We can leave if you want to.
- Fuck that shit! Can we please just leave? I don't think so.
Open this door.
If you're going to remember, you're going to have to relive it, Bob.
Now open the damn door! Oh, Jesus.
Fuck What the fuck happened here? "GEN 011 S2".
- What is this mean? - The second stage primate trials.
Injected with my stem cells.
Looks like somebody didn't want them around anymore.
They did this to themselves.
I thought you said the trials were a success.
Transformed into highly empathetic animals.
This isn't empathy, Bob.
It's insanity.
Oh my God! What about me?
I need to examine a real heart.
- It's been embalmed.
- So? I can't do anything with this.
I don't understand why you do his job.
I don't wanna do his job.
I just don't want anybody else to screw it up.
So you did.
What do you want? Wes' job.
Say again.
I remembered her name.
Yeah? I kept drawing, right, Nina, the lab, everything.
But it was all fragments.
But I couldn't piece them together.
I couldn't go anywhere.
And I decided to focus on sound.
Nina is the key to unlocking the memories.
Nina will know.
She will remember.
So we just have to find her.
Nina? Hello? Nina! I didn't think you were real.
Of course I am.
I thought you changed your mind.
No, it just took me a while to find it.
ReGenesis Team NorBAC Bbsiocnarf, Dapitch666, Enelea Golgi, Linwelin, Michvanilly Transcript Version NoTag 1.
0 So, how'd the book signing go? It was, you know Good turn out? Wall to wall.
I promise to make the next one, you just let me know.
Sure.
- Good morning, David.
- Do you have an appointment? I'd like you to meet Colonel Wade Carson of the U.
S.
Strategic Air Command.
Dr.
Sandstrà m, pleasure to meet you.
Colonel.
I'm sure this visit doesn't have anything to do with pleasure.
Actually it's an issue of National Security.
When isn't it, with you guys? Who's yanking your chain this time? Not so much "who" as "what".
We've recently had reports of suspicious activity near Arnold Air Force Base, in Tennessee.
Activity? Crow attacks.
What'll those crazy terrorists think up next, eh? You're serious? Deadly.
I never wanted to come back here but I had to.
If my father died before I had a chance to make things right I couldn't forgive myself.
I'm glad you're here.
So am I.
I should've known something was wrong.
I wanted to call you or come looking for you It's okay.
And I thought maybe you didn't want to see me again.
I've been trying so hard to remember.
And all this time, you were always with me.
I missed you so much.
Bob, everything's fine.
What is it? The work we did at Mr.
Roth's lab, on the stem cells.
What happened? Look at me.
You really don't remember.
Olivier Roth told David that we failed.
We abandoned the project.
You know Mr.
Roth.
That's just his way of protecting himself, keeping it secret.
And I can prove it.
Because I can feel that you're scared and you don't know why.
Your Jacobson's organ is working? I'm completely aware of people's emotions, even total strangers, without having to think about it.
It's so wonderful to be able to understand someone so So completely.
That's what we wanted.
And we are at the beginning.
And to be the first one to have a part of you inside of me.
You made me a better person.
I'm not so sure.
What is it? What is scaring you so much? - I don't know.
I can't - It's okay.
It's okay We'll get there.
Together.
I'm sorry, but I have better things to do than relive a bad Hitchcock movie.
Except this isn't fiction, Doctor Sandstrà m.
- No, it's paranoia.
- There's a boy in the hospital who would argue that, if he wasn't on a respirator.
Have you ever heard of the Air Force's BAM Project? No.
It stands for Bird Avoidance Model.
We're constantly monitoring migrations, putting out daily bird mass projections for the entire US airspace.
So a couple of angry crows don't fit with your model - and you hit the panic button? - Try hundreds and hundreds, David.
These attacks occurred in the vicinity of Carlisle, - near Arnold Air Force Base.
- The best ornithologists in the country have tried to figure this out.
Nobody can come up with an explanation.
A bunch of crows are effectively grounding a squadron of B1-B bombers.
We need to know why and who's behind it.
And you think these birds are working for Al-Qaeda? It would be extremely risky scrambling those planes, should the need arise.
Great.
Alright, perhaps you can tell us Have you heard of a swarm of crows becoming this aggressive, so suddenly? We have a jet standing by to take you to Tennessee.
What? Just a second.
Give me a minute.
Hello, David.
Who is this? It's Bob.
No, I'm sorry, Bob doesn't work here anymore.
I'm sorry I've been a little absent lately.
- Where are you? - In Michigan.
Well that narrows it down.
What are you lost? You trapped under a refrigerator, what? David.
I found her.
I found Nina.
No shit.
Yes.
And believe me, - she's very real.
- Promise me you're safe.
I am.
I can't wait for you to meet her.
- You'll love her.
- Okay, when are you back? I gotta go, but I'll call you soon.
Bob? Ah, shit.
- Carlos.
- Yeah? Pack a bag, we're going bird watching.
You could see them way off, gathering together.
Then it was like they all just decided to come into town.
I must've taken down a hundred in less than five minutes.
Since yesterday people are afraid to go out of their house to get the mail.
Sounds like some of the locals are doing their part.
And the Air Force? We've bagged about 520 crows so far.
Any confirmed kills yourself, Colonel? Not in this country.
Any thoughts? Well, crows are very susceptible to West Nile.
It could be a variant.
It can be environmental.
Or dozens of other things we don't even know about yet.
Have you noticed any pattern to the attacks? The seven wounded, were they in the same area? Doing similar activities? Maybe something threatening to the crows? No pattern I'm aware of.
He's off the respirator now, but he's still a little groggy.
What are his injuries? He lost his right eye.
Dozens of defensive wounds to his arms and hands, left jugular is punctured.
Excuse me.
Hey, Vince.
My name's David.
I'm a scientist, looking into these bird attacks.
Think you can help us out? Okay.
What you were doing when the birds came after you? I was over by Roger's field.
Flying my plane.
Remote control.
Were there a lot of birds around before you started flying your airplane? I dunno.
I just heard all this noise.
Turned around.
They were all on me.
The birds, did they attack your plane? No.
Just me.
I could understand if they confused the remote control plane with a raptor, or an owl But it sounds like they just zeroed in on the kid.
Thank you very much.
The US Biological Breeding Bird survey report no jump in the crow population, and that normal food sources are abundant.
- So where does that leave us? - Localized problem.
Any landfills in the area? A couple.
But they've been here for years.
What about the Air Force Base? Do you have any flow of hazardous waste - or heavy metals? - We've got a sludge lagoon and all drainage diverts around any landfill sites.
EPA's given us a clean bill of health.
You want to point fingers, how about those cell phone transmission towers? There's no evidence of radio waves affecting birds.
Not to the extent seen here.
Jesus.
Okay, we need to get some dead crows, slice-and-dice, see what we find out.
- That's it? - That's it.
And here's the asparagus.
You have a lovely home, Mr.
Corba.
Frank.
Oh.
Thank you very much.
What're you thanking me for? For allowing me to address you as "Frank", - as a sign of - That's my name.
- I'm very sorry.
- Don't worry about it.
You're a doctor? You operate with those hands? No, Frank, I'm a biochemist.
I study chemical processes and transformations, - within living organisms - I know what a biochemist is.
I'm not a high school dropout.
Dad, please.
What do you mean? You think I'm an idiot? Can we just eat? It's okay.
I should go.
Bob, please Sorry.
- I want to support you, but Frank - Deserves the same considerations for his feelings, I know, you're right.
The hell is wrong with you two? You even hear yourself talk? You're like some kind of lobotomized head-cases.
- I don't know what you did to her - I'm sorry that you're frustrated.
- But, I honestly - Would you stop for God's sake? Nina Sorry.
Just give me a minute.
Holy fuck.
Attention passengers, please fasten your seatbelts and remain seated.
You alright? Yeah.
- I got a call from Riddlemeyer.
- What does he want? He's not so hot about me stepping into Wes' shoes.
What's he going to do? Fire you? I'll rehire you.
I need you to get me the names of the best avian behaviorists we can talk to.
- Where we at with the crows? - So far some number eight shot and partially digested something.
What? Garbage? Road kill? Human eyeballs? - I don't know, haven't done a DNA test.
- Quick as you can.
Formaldehyde? - Oh, David.
- Hey.
So of all the different bacteria, parasites and viruses, both RNA and DNA, - known to affect crows - We've got 'em all? No, as a matter of fact, it's more like "nothing special".
- What about Mad Crow Disease? - Don't think I didn't go there.
But all the brain tissue samples looked normal, so What? Yeah, we got it.
Where is this? Almond, North Carolina.
The attacks started just outside of town this afternoon.
- Any wounded? - Several.
Two attacks, different states.
What's going on? I don't know any obvious connections between Carlisle, Tennessee and Almond, North Carolina.
But I do see something obvious that's not in common: military installations.
You're forgetting Pope Air Force Base, near Fayetteville.
That's 523 km from the attack site.
That's a long way from Almond, Carl.
You may also wanna know that the CIA has intercepted some chatter from Iraq.
According to the translators, these attacks may be a diversionary tactic.
Well it ain't working on me.
Second attack, North Carolina.
- Not a clue as to a connection.
- Might have something to do with moles.
The ones underground or on the skin? Mammalia.
The stomach contents of the crows was for the most part normal: insects, corn, worms.
But we also found the remains of moles in all of them.
So? Moles don't surface during the day.
And crows don't feed at night.
But there's something else.
The moles smelled funny.
It came from inside the stomach of a dead crow.
They smelled of formaldehyde so I did a chemical analysis and confirmed it.
All the moles have been contaminated with low levels of formaldehyde.
Okay, in human beings this would cause what? Blindness, organ damage, possibly respiratory problems.
There's no industry in Carlisle that would be using formaldehyde resin.
You know, maybe we're missing the link here because we can't see it.
All this time, we've been distracted by looking up at crows.
Maybe we need to look down.
You found formaldehyde in the soil? Yeah, it seems to be coming from the cemetery.
Ten acres permeated with formaldehyde.
That's a lot of leaking corpses.
It could be what's causing the moles to surface.
I would.
It's a good hypothesis.
When we first got here, we saw quite a few moles above ground.
Some kind of population explosion.
Send some back for analysis.
There might be some kind of connection between the moles and the birds.
I'm about to have Rachel carve up some North Carolina crow.
If we find they've been eating moles, I'd say that qualifies as a connection.
Alright.
Heads up! Gentlemen! Gentlemen, take cover.
There, come on.
I was wondering where you went to.
Why are you packed? I have to leave, Nina.
Because of my father? I'm scared, Nina.
And I'm not sure of what.
But I do know where I have to go.
Back to Roth's lab.
You know I can't leave my father.
David will come with me.
He's used to mind my panic attacks.
He's good that way.
You don't know what you'll find, do you? That's what scares me.
Nina, I'll be back soon.
Bob, please.
Before you go I know I wasn't much of a father Yes you were.
I love you, Daddy.
I love you too, honey.
So does that young man you're letting drive off Bob! Bob! - What do you got? - DNA confirms that no moles in the digestive tracts of the crows from North Carolina.
None? No, sorry.
So much for the mole theory.
- What's this spike here? - It's a toxicology report.
Everything's normal except slight traces of copper.
In both the Carolina and the Tennessee birds?{ Copper poisoning is associated with dementia.
Wait a minute.
We found slight traces of copper in the moles as well.
I mean, barely detectable, and probably harmless, but If it's not the moles It's what they're eating they have in common with the crows.
- What do they eat? - Mostly insects.
So soil samples that Carlos sent from Tennessee, - mainly grubs and earthworms.
- Test everything.
Insects, soil.
Carlos said there was a mole population explosion.
So that could mean that their food source You guys gotta see this.
Okay, so attacks have been confirmed in Kentucky, North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, and in Maryland, where a C5 Lockheed Galaxy went down, that's a huge military transport.
- Any casualties? - Pilot and co-pilot.
Just after takeoff the pilot reported multiple strikes and engine failure.
I'm gonna need to see the data on the Tennessee insect and soil samples.
Have them measure the copper levels as well.
Mayko, can you pull up that database again? This time, run a sequence in order of attack locations, from first to last.
- You see that? - Yeah.
Whatever's triggering these crow attacks is moving northwards.
It seems to be localized in the Eastern half of the US.
Lay in all the airports.
Including the military ones.
See, the civilian airports are on the outskirts of cities.
Military airports are in the country where the crows are.
That's why they thought they were under attack.
Just some good old-fashioned military paranoia.
It's funny.
In the past 28 hours I feeled liked we've gone from reunion to retirement.
Must be the recreational vehicle.
You're happy, aren't you? Very much.
I really liked waking up beside you.
And everything else.
Bob! Sorry, I've embarrassed both of us.
Trust me, you've got nothing to be embarrassed about.
That's good.
Seems to me like you could use a little relaxing now.
You've been clenching that fist for the last hour.
Yes, I see.
Are you tense? No.
But I remembered why I needed to find you.
What're you doing? Uh, be right there.
Nina, I know I've only loved you only for a short time, and well, I It was difficult for me to say because I remember practicing but I don't remember the words for it.
I just really want to be clear in this moment and I know I should stop focusing on the presentation What is it? I owe you an apology.
I don't know where I lost the real one.
When Richard Drew made this tape in 1925 it wasn't very sticky and some people thought it was cheap and made by frugal Scotsmen so it got its name "Scotch" tape.
But now it's stickier.
More adhesive.
To make sure that things stick together for a long long time.
I love you, Bob.
Nina, what I really want is that I was just wondering Will you marry me, Nina, please? Yes! It's perfect.
Hey, normal levels of copper in the soil, tested around the area with the moles, down to eight feet below ground.
Here.
I'm hearing a lot of what we don't have.
Well, what we do have, by the thousands, are maggots, beetle larvae and cicada nymphs.
- Your basic mole diet.
- All of which tested normal.
Yeah, but check this out.
These are periodical cicadas, the kind that gestate underground for 17 years.
Now, almost every year, somewhere in North America, a group of cicadas, they call them "broods", emerges.
But the cicadas that you had analyzed, where were they in their life cycle? Almost a couple of months old, which classifies them as part of "Brood 14".
Okay, not too long ago in Tennessee, cicadas emerged.
Yeah, so, after 17 years underground, feeding on grass and tree roots, the now adult cicadas crawled up to the surface, dried out their wings and did their thing for a couple of weeks.
- "Did their thing"? - Yes, "did their thing".
The males screech out some love songs, attract a mate, copulate and then they pretty much die right after.
Now the females only die after laying their eggs.
- Eggs hatch, out come the nymphs.
- Nymphs burrow into the ground, - the whole cycle starts again.
- But if the cicadas tested normal.
I know, but look at this.
Look at the range of this year's emergence.
Okay, in the blue, 13 states.
the same ones reporting crow attacks.
Okay Except the attacks are moving northwards.
Got a cicada emergence in Georgia, but they have no problems with crows.
- So that pokes a few holes.
- Alright, but apart from the cicadas, what do the other states have in common that Georgia doesn't? Well, they feed on grass and tree roots.
Could be regional vegetation differences.
If we get attacks in Indiana and Ohio, I think it's a good indication there's something to these hatchings.
Still doesn't make any fucking sense.
You said the nymphs tested normal? Yeah.
Bring Riddlemeyer up to speed.
Let him know there's a chance that this year's "Cicada States" might have a few crow issues in the near future.
When he asks "why"? Tell him it's a sign of the Apocalypse.
Hey! Move this piece of shit out of here! What the hell you think this is, a trailer park? Hello, Bob.
Hello, David.
Welcome back.
I guess I should say something profound David, I know this is a lot of information all at once, and I'm sorry to surprise you like this.
No, It's Nina.
May you share everything with Bob.
That's nice, David.
Including the housework.
He tends to mask affection with sarcasm, but he means well.
So, Nina.
The lab.
Olivier Roth.
Help me out.
Subtle, David.
What? For Christ's sake, Bob, I've been going through this brain fart with you for two months now.
Bob trusts you.
I know that.
But he's still scared.
- There's some pieces missing - What do you mean, "missing"? Pre-trials all went well.
Pre-trials on what? Primates.
Injected with my stem cells.
But we didn't wait long enough, we moved on too early.
Bob, look at me.
I am living proof that you made the right decisions.
What, wait a minute! Are you telling me that you've had this procedure done? And it worked.
I have a heightened sense of empathy.
That's just fucking great! Shoot first and ask questions later, is that it? - Someone had to be the first volunteer.
- No, they didn't! No, they didn't - I have to ask you a favor, David.
- I'm not giving you away.
I need you to go back to Roth's lab with me.
Did he contact you? No.
But I have to see for myself.
To know that everything's alright.
Roth says the experiment failed.
Nina says the opposite, and she is the opposite of failure.
Conflicting information tells me that I am scared for a good reason.
- Bob? - Hey.
Five new crow attacks: Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania.
All recent cicada hatching states, David.
- Any of them near airports? - One, in Pennsylvania.
Not military.
But a Cessna did crash on landing.
Multiple bird strikes.
No fatalities.
Good, contact the FAA, have them warn all the airports in the affected states.
Still nothing in Georgia? No, and no other attack reports except in states that That had this year's cicada hatching.
I get it.
The question is why? And why just crows? - I have no idea.
- Neither do I.
It'd be nice to have a fresh set of eyes on this.
Bob! Sorry, David, we just met the new lab tech: Bilal.
Seems nice, a bit quiet.
- This is - Nina? Bob, there's been some more crashes, okay? Mayko, this is the soon-to-be Mrs.
Bob.
I like that, "Mrs" I understand the point, David.
Is there a correlation between the location of the crow attacks, this year's cicada emergence, and indigenous vegetation.
The cicada nymphs burrow underground, and they feed on the tree roots.
They suck on them, actually.
Right Well, look, see? From birch trees, to oak trees and almost everything in between, - eastern US has it all.
- But not junipers, or redwoods, or Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina, Ohio.
These states, they all have three things in common.
They've got crow attacks, they've got a recent cicada hatching, and they've got over a dozen different species of trees.
So how do we narrow it down? Assuming, of course, there is a correlation between - this year's emergence and - Humor me.
Difficult to do.
There're so many vegetative combinations and permutations to consider.
Okay, so aside from the cicadas, you said there were other insects found in the Tennessee soil samples.
Yeah.
Look at this.
Scolytus multistriatus.
- English.
- Elm bark beetle.
- Special because? - They eat elm trees.
- Look at the range.
- Okay, elm trees.
I was looking at maps of almost every kind of tree.
Here you go.
Well that's interesting.
But you said there haven't been any crow attacks in Georgia.
But in comparison to all these other hatching states, Georgia barely has any elm trees at all.
I think you're on to something, Bob.
Good.
It's amazing to put faces to names.
- Bob talks about you guys all the time.
- Good things I hope.
So, how did you meet? We worked together.
I should probably let Bob give you the details.
Are you a doctor? Is that how you two? I was in the middle of my doctorate.
Neurology.
Specializing in regenerative therapy.
- Stem cells.
- That's right.
Mayko! Where the fuck are you? Welcome to the family.
Just a little dysfunctional.
Right.
I'm right here.
Ah, there you are.
Quick as you can.
You want elm tree root samples for Tennessee, Ohio and Georgia? Contact the USDA.
And pull any info you can on the rest of the list.
Wait wait wait.
Don't you mean this year's? No, this year's have already emerged.
And since we need to test the nymphs underground at the end of their cycle, we'd have to wait another 17 years to test this year's brood.
I don't know how soon I can get all this to you.
You should be done by now.
Each of this year's cicada states have elm trees in common.
Why is that relevant? Well, along with the cicada nymphs, we found elm bark beetles within the Tennessee soil samples.
Insects notorious for transmitting Ophiostoma ulmi.
- Dutch Elm disease.
- The disease hit in 1928, in Ohio.
It spread halfway across the US in four decades.
Block after block of beautiful suburban streets withered and died.
Property values plummeted.
Panic set it.
And then in 1939, they sprayed everything with DDT.
By the mid-50s the WHO suspected it caused cancer, but they didn't ban it until 72.
Meanwhile Dutch Elm disease kept spreading.
So guess what they did next.
Three decades of chemical cocktails, sprayed and spiked directly into the Elm trees.
Look, dioxins, all sorts of shit including copper sulfate.
And the trees soaked it all up.
So below ground, cicadas are feeding on the roots? But David, we tested them.
Toxicity was normal.
Normal for an insect 8 weeks into a 17-year life cycle.
The 2011 brood have been sucking on toxic tree roots for 10 years now.
And guess what? Higher accumulation of copper.
In fact the cicadas are eating xylem sap, which is where the copper circulates, so they'd have good long-term exposure.
You'd think that would just kill the cicada nymphs, no? - They must adapt over time.
- No.
Cicadas have proteobacterial symbionts that probably help them achieve a copper tolerance.
So the bacteria in their guts "sop up" the copper.
Exactly.
So the cicadas increasingly became laden with copper sulfate.
This latest hatching was basically a chemical bomb 70 years in the making.
So summer arrives, warm weather moves north - As the attacks do.
- Soil temperature rises 62 degrees, triggering the adult cicadas to crawl up from under.
And boom! Cicadas explode into the food chain.
The crows move in, they stake their territories and basically gorge for weeks on toxic cicadas.
And the copper streams into the blood, diffuses to their brains Affecting proteins specific only to crows.
Essentially what we're looking at here is avian schizophrenia.
- Except, what about Georgia? - Elms are few and far between there.
They got their share of toxic treatments, but nowhere near the levels of other current cicada hatching states.
Intelligence reports suggest otherwise.
Come on, Colonel.
Crow attacks as a diversionary tactic? You know what? They're right, because look at you, you're diverted.
You're sitting here in my office worried about birds.
Look, I think this chatter that the CIA intercepted was merely observational.
Try to relax until the summer of 2011.
What happens then? The next cicada hatching in 16 different states all of which have been sprayed for Dutch Elm disease.
- How many hatchings are there? - Enough to keep the military "diverted" for the rest of your career, I imagine.
We'll run out of crows to shoot by then.
That's assuming that future hatchings will only affect crows.
Who knows what you'll be shooting at Is this helping at all? It was our last day, we were closing up, the animals were getting picked up.
I had to secure the lab.
Alright, let's see if anybody's home, Bob.
I can't remember the access code.
After you, Bob.
It's okay, baby.
It's okay.
We had finished our work Roth had left.
The lab was being dismantled.
I told him to stop.
I don't understand.
We made a mistake, we can't keep going.
- I told him - Stop what, Bob? What was he doing? - The trials.
We made a mistake.
- No, Bob, the trials were good.
But it was too soon.
Too soon for what, Bob? What are you afraid of? Bob, we came here to end this, not run away from it again.
- I don't want to be here and do this.
- It's okay.
- We can leave if you want to.
- Fuck that shit! Can we please just leave? I don't think so.
Open this door.
If you're going to remember, you're going to have to relive it, Bob.
Now open the damn door! Oh, Jesus.
Fuck What the fuck happened here? "GEN 011 S2".
- What is this mean? - The second stage primate trials.
Injected with my stem cells.
Looks like somebody didn't want them around anymore.
They did this to themselves.
I thought you said the trials were a success.
Transformed into highly empathetic animals.
This isn't empathy, Bob.
It's insanity.
Oh my God! What about me?